Commerce had become a “reason of state” in the eighteenth century. With the publication of Smith’s Wealth of Nations, the idea that free international trade was economically beneficial however gradually gained prominence. The long nineteenth century indeed saw timid – bilateral – attempts to implement the new politico-economic philosophy. Yet the First World War and the Great Depression destroyed almost all trade liberalisation already achieved, and the neo-mercantilist policies of the 1920s and 1930s seemed to turn the wheels of commerce backwards. Nonetheless: after the Second World War the belief that a peaceful world order could only be founded on a stable international economic order emerged strengthened; and a number of institutional attempts to liberalise – and harness – the world economy were immediately made, culminating in the creation of the 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

中文翻译：

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从“封闭”到“开放”商业国家：国际经济法简史

在18世纪，商业已经成为“国家原因”。随着史密斯（Smith）的《国家财富》的出版，自由国际贸易在经济上是有益的，但是这一观念逐渐得到重视。十九世纪漫长的确实确实是胆怯的（双边的）尝试实施新的政治经济哲学。然而，第一次世界大战和大萧条摧毁了几乎已经实现的所有贸易自由化，并且1920年代和1930年代的新重商主义政策似乎使贸易的方向倒退了。但是，第二次世界大战之后，人们就建立了一种和平的世界秩序只能建立在稳定的国际经济秩序基础上的信念得到了加强；并立即进行了许多旨在放宽和利用世界经济的体制尝试，